Good morning everyone, and thank you for joining us. I'm Melanie and would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the country on which and recognize their continuing connection to the land, waters. Today's presentation is being recorded, and a recording will be made of. Used in the presentation are also available on our website. Questions can be submitted at any time by selecting the raised hand. To view the slides in full screen, select the button at the toggle layout showing the slides and presenter. We CEO and Managing Director, and Mark Simons, our CFO, Maria Loyez, and Group Executive Asset Management, Ludo present to assist with answering questions. John will provide a short business update. Over to you, John.
This year marks 40 years of Australian Ethical. Founded in 1986, Australian Ethical was built on the belief generate strong returns while directing capital to future-focused compass and animals. The ethical charter guiding our investment that gives us a distinctive market position. We're not a ethical investment manager, and today we're also a far for investors and shareholders. We have demonstrated that purpose horsing. Our strategy remains clear and deliberate engines, superannuation, and investments beyond super at a scalable unit cost. Organic growth remains, where they strengthen capability, broaden reach, or. I want to emphasize is consistency. This is not a new increasingly visible, and the quality and the resilience of the business result and strategic milestones build on the momentum of recent of all members onto the GROW Inc administration platform.
The firm platform from which to enhance the member experience and grow its digital marketing, website, and onboarding experience work compared with the first half of the year. Investment income and private markets. This broad and diversified casters. When launched in March of this year, our Growth Opportunities Fund AUD 125 million cornerstone investment from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation continued our focus on business resilience, governance, cyber risk. These are not distractions from growth. They're part term success also depends on a capable, purpose-led culture, and I'm so proud of our people and pleased to see their engagement. For that engagement to sit ahead of industry benchmarks is a real. detail, but I do just want to briefly frame the result. Net flows, record funds under management and earnings, underlying profit after tax increased 15%, and the underlying cost to income ratio improved.
The strength of this result enabled the board to declare a 29% uplift year on year. That we are a growth company, but also a company was delivered while we continued to invest in the capabilities required for future growth while maintaining clear cost discipline and a focus on the quality of the offer we now have for our customers. Engine provides revenue predictability and underpins positions for values-aligned investors seeking financial returns. We plan to launch a new impact fund in the first philanthropic sector. We continue to focus on customer management growth and operating leverage as we scale. In assessing ethical investment opportunities, investing with defective stewardship. Over the past year, we continued use of artificial intelligence, increasing the breadth policymakers and companies to account on issues that matter at a challenging year well.
Fixed income and private market were more exposed to the dynamic shaped by the war in the Middle East, concentrated outside our ethical investable universe. Actors are undervalued. We remain focused charter, investing with valuation discipline, broadening. The Australian Ethical Foundation remains one of the clearest expressions. 10% of profits to charitable organizations, primary address climate change, restore nature, empower. By 2026, we allocated a record AUD 3.4 million to the support that grant-making work. Through these grants, unity led solutions addressing biodiversity loss, climate. My team knows that rather than blowing our own trumpet, I am much more interested in what the team has achieved, as underscored by recognition across. Products have won Money magazine's Best of the Best awards, Roy Morgan and Finder.
The integrity but this recognition gives us confidence that our proposition here, it is about sustained focus over the past five or six more than 3.5 x. We also strengthened the stronger returns to shareholders. The quality net flows, targeted investment and capability on operating leverage. After Mark takes you through a business outlook as I see the organization.
Thank you, John, and good morning, everyone. FY 2026 management, revenue, earnings, and dividends supported by higher average funds under management. Underlying profit is attributable to our shareholders increased 29%. Percentage points to 69.8%. By only 2%. A key differentiator of Australian Ethical funds under management is in super, with growth supported by through market cycles. We closed FY 2026. This growth continues to be driven by positive net flows. Our funds under management is in our superannuation. Element capability and product range to attract new middle market AUD 44 million. Superannuation remained the primary contributor despite disruption from the final 4% of members are in pension phase, which is below the broader industry rate remains low at 7% of funds under management. Meaningfully to our growth. These include NGOs, charity- Investment manager. We are also seeing Clean Energy Finance Corporation into our Growth Opportunities Fund.
It is competitive for current and future customers. We care for shareholders and a compelling offer for customers. The spot revenue margin at 30 June 2026 was 89%. Margin is expected to remain consistent during FY 2027, marginally offset by a lower revenue margin and fee adjustments. The insurance administration fee introduced during the year. Our revenue base is broader and more diversified than it was several years ago. Application supports both future growth and revenue stability. We continue to invest in a scalable business platform to operating leverage, reflecting scalability, efficient. Operating expenses increased 7%. Employee expenses increased 11%, reflecting the full year impact of the Altius team and wage inflation. With the average funds under management growth of 11%. Technology expenses growth reflects continuing artificial intelligence initiatives and stronger cybersecurity. Free up capacity and accelerate ethical research and assessments.
The business is entering its next phase with us. We have significantly. We achieved this while continuing to invest in the business platform, members, and investors. We retain a strong balance sheet requirements. This provides resilience and the flexibility. It also provides optionality to pursue attractive growth. Dividend profile. The successful execution four-year compound annual earnings growth of 2,032% over the same period. We are our resilient business model, trusted brand. I invite John for the business updates.
Mark has just shared, outlined, and showed the benefit. This is the strategy that will continue to guide us over the coming years. Seven, to position the business for its next phase of growth. Expanding employer channel capability. Together and retention, and increase member lifetime value. Completed across asset classes, strengthening our institute. Bringing further product innovation to market in the coming months. Artificial intelligence and smart technology to serve members in. We intend to assess these opportunities in the first half of FY 2025. And business resilience, governance practices, and risk management. At in both the short and the longer term, subject to market. High, a unique position among fund managers and listed. That depend on discretionary investment flows. We have intentionally been market cycles.
Regardless of short-term investment market. Second half of FY 2026, and new customers and flows. To our superannuation value proposition and continued product. Confident in the strength of our brand and the product and channel growth engine. Values-aligned investing. We will continue to invest sensibly, targeting expense growth below revenue growth, subject, as I have said, with an expectation that underlying cost to income ratio for. Again, thanks very much for joining us this morning. I really deeply value that, and the team and I look forward to answering any questions that you might have.
As a reminder, questions can be submitted by selecting the raised hand icon located in the top right-hand corner of the webpage and typing the question into the designated text box. Okay, a question has come in. I will hand this to you, Mark, as the CFO. You have had significant profit growth during the period. Did the board consider paying a higher dividend?
Thank you for the question. The board was particularly pleased with the profit growth, was obviously underpinned by the underlying profit of 15%, at confidence in the company and the growth in profit per share, which has taken our total dividends for the year up. This is a payout ratio continues to be 80%, and that gives us that capital flexibility to ensure that we can invest, look for inorganic smaller opportunities.
A question for you, John. How is your organization thinking about artificial intelligence?
Look, we're excited about the opportunity. We, as a team, are looking up and down our whole value to leverage and accelerate our unique- Season speed, dividends that might apply in the business. In the use of our ethical universe with our investment team, our investable universe. I might, if we can get the tech office, Alison, briefly, if you're able to share the example you've been working on.
During the year, we've been working to better leverage data and technology in our ethical workflows, including piloting artificial intelligence approaches. This has really helped us to prove up where and how artificial intelligence can add value in augmenting our in-house ethical experts and help us to scale our research activities while maintaining our ethical standards. It supported us to increase our research output in FY 2026. We added more than 190 new names to our investable universe, giving the investment team a broader set of ethically assessed opportunities to consider.
Thanks, Alison.
Thank you, John.
Yep. I think, look, it is a great example. We look to accelerate and leverage further our unique IP to create efficiency and speed for the team.
Organization, I see some other companies talking about what they are doing.
ideas or projections of what may or may not happen.
To benefit for the organization.
Play out on artificial intelligence. But we're very positive about it. Starting to use it wide in our organization over the next period.
Questions come in about superannuation flows, and I'm going to hand this to you, Maria, as Group Executive, Superannuation. Question is, can you provide more detail on your super flows for the FY 2026 year, and what's your outlook?
Yeah, thank you. Look, we're really
We're seeing strong SGC and voluntary administration platform, which completed in the first half of the year, which saw our joins lift. As you saw in the presentation, our new customers to roll over as soon as we can after they. We're really focused on building on those foundations of that member experience, particularly our help and content, our help— As John said, we're also looking at how we might—
John, question for you to answer. Can you comment further on how the license condition work is progressing, please?
Sure. Look, I am really pleased with progress on that. We have APRA. We have agreed with APRA the uplift, and I am very confident that will be—
Thank you, John. A question has come in on revenue margin. The question is, it has looked relatively stable in FY 2026, but the listener is keen to know what the outlook is for revenue margins and fees. I will hand this to you, Mark, as CFO.
Thank you. We would like to highlight, as I have mentioned, we have a premium product and price. That premium price is our focus is on providing that proposition, that product provides the leading investment objectives, and we meet those objectives relatively stable. It only reduced by one basis point of our superannuation menu, which is basis point margins, reducing to 89 points. Beyond FY 2027, we are always looking to make sure as we scale, there will be some modest fee reductions. We call that income ratio, which, as John mentioned, is expected to—
I am going to pass the next question over to Ludo, our Chief Investment Officer. Ludo, you have mentioned the middle market in, well, during the speeches, the middle market and product innovation was quite a feature. What is the size of this market and what are your plans to capture the market?
Mel, thank you for the question. Yes, we are very excited. By middle market, we mean, broadly speaking, values-aligned investors. We estimate AUD 2 billion. We are very keen on the concept I mentioned before, that we launched recently our second private markets fund, a multi-asset impact fund. Been on this concept of strategic partnering with it to our business.
Thank you, Ludo. Another question has come in about super member joins, which you noted that there was 20% growth on member joins, versus the first half. I will hand this to you, Maria. Could you give us a bit more flavor on this and what the outlook is for member joins?
Yes, sure. In member joins, so we saw 15,000. We are a choice superannuation focus, and we will continue to hone that, but also our revenue.
Great. Thanks for that extra. Come in regarding governance related. Regarding the governance transformation that you have underway, are you able to give us a sense of how much additional cost that might bring? Also, whether that will be one-off or recurring in nature?
Let me start that. Mark, you might add to that. We do, of course, will continue to invest in the business, as I said, to scale this business, that we have a strong operating platform, that it is resilient. Investment is the space, not detracting from growth, but completely underpinning us in the next year. They are not, to my mind, material and well. They are embedded in strong expectations about our revenue uplift and our cost contain. Mark, do you have further comment on that?
No. The one-off nature and the transformational uplift in gov, you have to adjust those amounts. But operating expense envelope, as John mentioned, under the cost income ratio, make sensible and disciplined investment decisions in context of the governance up.
Mark. That looks like all the questions that we have had in for the day. I would like to thank you all again for joining and have a great day.